This thoroughly revised edition of the classic textbook explores a wide range of problems in psychology, philosophy, cognitive and brains sciences, identifying the major topics, debates, and controversies and presenting them in a balanced and accessible manner for students.
- This book is the bane of my graduate student existence. I was required to read and learn the first 10 chapters of this book; lets just say I would rather walk barefoot through a mile of Legos, than to ever give my attention/time to this text. There are many reasons why this book is horrible, which I will outline below. My condolences to anyone that was assigned reading to this textbook.
- overly emphasized parts when not necessary Have you ever written an essay that you put so much background and introductory filler in, since you had to meet the page requirement? Multiply that by 10 and you will get an idea on what this book is about. Chapters never seem to get to the point - they are laden with page-long explanations on the history, background, and context of X. The filler is extremely facile, while the main points are not. The authors could have easily described their points with 4-5 sentences, but instead do so over 5-10 pages.
- constant references to later and previous chapters One word: DISORGANIZED. there are constant references to previous and future chapters. Why not just focus on the explanation of the main point? For example, "[reading chapter 10] something about computation, oh and by the way this is similar to the concept we saw on chapter 2. something more about computation, do you remember what we learned in chapter 6?" This unorganized referencing is laden throughout the book. Just stick to the main point and explain it without these unnecessary reference fillers.
- the whole book could be written using 1/3 of the pages As stated before, the book could have been written using 1/3 of it's pages. Long-winded explanations of simple concepts that could have been explained in a few paragraphs have been extended to a few pages; constant references to non-chapter concepts litter the relevant material, ultimately leaving the reader confused.